The No Wave Scene

Whilst hardcore emerged from the visceral side of punk, no wave owed its origins to its artier aspects. As a musical style, no wave was hard to define as it drew on various genres, but a driving rhythm and a certain atonal quality were key. The scene began in New York, the traditional home of art-punk. The movement was short-lived, its most enduring graduates being experimental rockers Sonic Youth. Saxophonist James Chance and writer/singer/poet Lydia Lunch were two central figures, forming the band Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, although Chance swiftly left to found The Contortions.

May

The Clash’s Combat Rock And Beyond

Combat Rock was pared down by producer Glyn Johns to a single album from a double prepared by guitarist Mick Jones. The experimentation of Sandinista! continued with further forays into hip-hop and a spoken-word contribution from legendary beat poet Allen Ginsberg. It was The Clash’s commercial peak, reaching No. 2 in the UK and cracking the Top 10 in America. ‘Rock The Casbah’ was the band’s biggest hit single until the posthumous UK No. 1 ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go?’. The Clash started to disintegrate soon after Combat Rock, which was released on 14 May 1982. Cut The Crap, made after Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been fired, was released in 1985 but has since been expunged from the canon.

Styles & Forms | Introducing Punk
Styles & Forms | Punk | The Aftermath (1983) | Key Events